Rudy The RedBeaked RatBird
by Cody The Maverick
Summary: When an undersized ratbird with an oversized glowing red beak is born, he is forced to live a life of pain because of it. But when the food storm threatens ChewAndSwallow, can his beak save the day, and his master Flint Lockwood?
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs is copyright to Sony Pictures Animation. This story, Rudy, Ann-Marie, and Danny (MY Danny, NOT Yellow Dragon's) are copyright to Cody The Maverick, although Rudy himself was inspired by, but is not an exact copy of, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who is copyright to Robert L. May.

Rudy the Red-Beaked RatBird

Prologue

His heart beated faster. Flint Lockwood ran through the gray tinted forest, his Spray-on Shoes thumping the ground with every passing step. He was running to the swamp on the far side of town, the one where he moved a majority of his creepy creations, the ratbirds. As a combo between a lab rat and a scarlet maccaw, everyone in the town thought they were just creepy, but Flint thought they would amount to something special someday. And because of this, he went every Tuesday morning to feed the the flock, in case they couldn't fend for themselves. As he reached the swamp, a loud "CA-CAW" met his ears. The were screaching because another ratbird had successfuly given birth. Flint's heart lept with joy, new ratbirds were always special.

"So, who's the new member of the family?"

"CA-CA-CA!"

Flint, being the creator of these strange creations, was the only one who could speak their language, and he understood them well. They led him to a branch in a low-lying tree, where a mother ratbird was nuzzling her lone newborn. As Flint looked over the nest, he saw the new baby, eyes closed, and fur super fluffy. But then, as the little guy lifted his head, everyone noticed it. His beak. It. Was. RED!!!!! Every other beak on a ratbird was yellow, with just a hint of light pink from the rat skin. But this one was totaly RED, and it even seemed to GLOW! The other ratbirds gathered 'round and gasped at this funny sight.

"CAW-CAW?" said the mother ratbird.

"What's wrong?" Flint replied in a quiet voice, "His beak is red and it glows! But i guess it's not much to worry about. Maybe just the result of a genetic mutation, but it was nobody's fault. He'll learn to live with it, don't worry."

Then Flint gave the ratbirds their much needed food (sardines again...) and left to work on more inventions. He told the ratbirds that soon, he would try to solve this town's sardine problem by trying to turn water into food. The ratbirds didn't care much about that, what they did care about was the beak on this new little ratbird, whom his mother had decided to name Rudy. But little did Rudy, or any of the ratbirds, know that they would play a BIG part in Flint's "water-into-food" story. But Rudy would play the biggest part of all, for that beak of his might do big things someday.

It might even save his master's life.


	2. Chapter 1

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 1

(Author's note: The ratbirds in this story have a case of "Animal Talk" meaning that when they speak with humans (which is not very often) it sounds like cawing, but when they speak to another ratbird, it sounds like english. Just wanted to point that out. Also, Yellow Dragon, the Danny I speak of here is NOT your Danny OC. I guess we just both happen to have ratbirds named Danny...)

The little ratbird named Rudy didn't realize how hard his life would be, but he didn't care yet. All he cared about was getting enough food to eat. But the other ratirds did care about one thing, his huge red beak.

"HA!" they all said. "Freak with the red beak!" "It's Rudy's Ruby beak!" "That could light up the whole forest!" "Yeah, in the middle of the night when we're trying to SLEEP!"

They all just filled poor Rudy's blue eyes with tears and his heart with pain, the pain of being different. And for something as shallow as his glowing beak. Almost everyone made fun of him, but mostly Danny, a tough, strong, meanie ratbird with a over-cocky attitude. He loved to brag, and Rudy was his perfect target. And he loved to challange Rudy, just to see him fail. Danny and his buddies would always have flying contests, but Rudy always lost because his huge beak weighed him down.

Even though the ratbirds were told by Flint to stay in the swamp, evey now and then a group of ratbirds would come "out on the town" to capture little kids and have what they called "fun." Rudy never wanted to do that, because he wasn't as mean as the other ratbirds, all he had to worry about was the ridicule from the others.

But Rudy did seem to have one friend who thought his unique beak was really kinda cute. With eyes as red as Rudy's beak, Ann-Marie was a beauty of a young female ratbird who always consoled Rudy when he was feeling down. As the weeks turned into months and the months into seasons, they developed quite a strong bond.

"But my beak!" Rudy said one day, reflecting on the teasing he had endured eariler, "It's just so....red!"

"I think red is a prettier color than yellow!" Ann-Marie replied, in an attempt to cheer him up. "Besides, if you ever need a light when it's dark, you have your own light!"

Rudy smiled. He thought Ann-Marie was a great friend, even greater than his mother, to say the least. But as the days passed, as all this was going on, their master was still planning out his "greatest invention."


	3. Chapter 2

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 2

As time did pass, Rudy was now a little over a year old. And after staying in the safety of the swamp his whole life, he thought he was ready to go out to the town and do what all the "cool" ratbirds did. His mother wished him farewell as he flew out from the trees, even though he would only be gone for a little while. But as Rudy flew up and out, he was confronted by Danny and 2 of his "backup buddies."

"Where you goin'?"

"I...I...was just heading out to the town for the first time..." Replied Rudy, nervously.

"Well, if you want to be a "cool" ratbird when you're in this town, you do what I do! Just follow me, and i'll teach you how to become the coolest ratbird ever!" said Danny, knowing that Rudy would fall for his best trick yet. "Come on!"

Rudy followed Danny and his pals way up into the clouds, still getting used to his wings and the thinness of the air. As the 4 flew over the grayest part of the town called Swallow Falls, they heard a shout way down below them.

"FLINTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!" Followed by a much quieter, "Sorry Dad!"

"You hear that?" said Danny, pointing down at a large metal building down below them, "That's where our master lives! Let's go check him out!"

As they flew down at landed on the top of the metal roof, they spotted some kids near the fence. "Wanna see what ratbirds do best?" Danny asked no one in particular. He gave quite a SQUAKKKKK, then flew down and locked his claws into the sholuders of one of the kids. As he took off, he heard another one on the ground call: "Billy! Just play dead!" But Danny didn't care. He flew up and showed Rudy his human kid with pride.

"See? This is why i'm the strongest ratbird around, and you're nothing but a red-beaked freak!" Danny directed at Rudy. The 2 other ratbirds just laughed at him in mockery, then hooked onto Danny's little human and flew off together. Rudy just sat there on the roof, holding back tears at the thought that he had been tricked. As he flew off to join the others, he heard his master say beneath him, "...And mom did too." Whatever that meant.


	4. Chapter 3

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 3

After taking off from the top of the lab, Rudy was led on a tour of the rest of the town by Danny and his 2 buddies. It took all morning, and he was shown everything, the houses, the streets, and lastly, the docks. As they flew to the edge of the dock, many of the townfolk had gathered in the town square for a big event. But the 4 ratbirds didn't care about that.

"We ratbirds LOVE sardines, some of us are so good, we can catch them right out of the water!" explained Danny. "Can YOU catch a sardine?" he asked Rudy.

"Well, I think.....just give me some time." muttered Rudy. He flew out to the top of the ocean and started hitting the top of the water in his feeble attempt to catch some fish. After nearly 5 minutes of his antics, he finaly gave up.

"HA!" cried Danny, as the group of ratbirds flew up onto a telephone wire. "You couldn't catch a fish if your life depended on it! I'm so good, I could catch a fish right out of the sky!"

And at that very moment, the 4 of them heard a loud BOOM. There was a giant fishbowl shooting up into the air, with the sardine flying out of it!

"See, I'll show you!" exclaimed Danny. And with that, as quick as a bullet, he shot up into the air and grabbed the helpless sardine from above. As he heard a CRASH beneath him, he flew down and showed off his prize to the heartbroken Rudy.

"See? This is why you're a loser and I'm not." And with that, Danny and his buddies flew off to search for more food before returning to the swamp. Rudy just looked out at them, his beak dimly glowing and his eyes starting to water just a tiny bit. And this time, he didn't follow them. As he silently weeped, he didn't even notice his master dash out of a circle made out of the remains of a broken glass fishbowl.


	5. Chapter 4

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 4

Rudy started to sob as he sat on the wire, forlorn because of the way Danny had treated him.

"If only my beak was normal, then I wouldn't have to put up with him!" He shouted to no one in particular. "Someday I'll show everyone! It's just that my beak makes everything harder for me!"

Just then, he saw what looked like a shooting star, but went up into the sky instead of going down. Nevertheless, Rudy made his wish. "I wish for a chance to show everyone what I can do, even if my beak is red and glows like no one else's." What Rudy didn't know was that the "shooting star" was really the FLDSMDFR, and it would change both his master's life and his life forever.

Meanwhile, Danny and the other 2 had flown off to find some dinner for themselves. Danny had caught and eaten some sardines and was looking for something else. As he flew underneath the docks, he heard a SMACK up above. He flew up and into a trashcan, where some cheese was lying there.

"Cheese?" he asked himself. "This isn't right, but at least it's food." He went to snatch it up when he heard a noise up above.

"Cheese?" It was his master.

"Master?" Danny thought, "He wants this cheese? Well, I saw it first, so it's MINE." He flew up and snapped at his master and flew off. As he landed on another wire, he started to nibble at his cheese, but then a deep rumbling from up above caught his attention. He turned his head to see dark purple clouds rolling in from over the sea. The sight was so much, he gave the best gasp that a ratbird could give. Frightened, he flew off to find his pals.

As Rudy hid his head in his wings, crying little ratbird tears, he too heard the same rumbling that Danny had heard. As he looked at the circular clouds, something flew right past him and landed on the ground below. As he turned his head to look, another one smacked him right off the wire and right onto the road. Rudy was confused, for he had never seen anything like these before. He decided to go back to the swamp and ask his fellow ratbirds, that is, if they would listen.

As Rudy returned, there was a lot of chatter in the trees, for Danny and his buddies had seen food falling from the sky! The flock had decided that if this strange event would keep up, they could go back and forth between the town and the swamp to get more food. Rudy was filled with joy, for he was tired of eating sardines, but Danny had other ideas.

"I don't want you to have ANY of that food rain, beak freak!" Danny shouted to Rudy. "Only normal ratbirds derserve a treat like this!" And he turned his back on litte Rudy and flew off with the rest off the flock to clean up the remains of this so-called "burger rain."

Rudy's eyes started to water again, but Ann-Marie saw him just in time. "Don't let them tell you what you can't do." She said to him. "You know what, we'll go out together and have our own burger rain feast!"

Rudy's heart filled with happiness, "Let's go! And thanks for being a good friend to me Ann-Marie."

"Thanks." She said in return as they both flew off. "And I think your beak is kinda cute."


	6. Chapter 5

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 5

The next morning after the amazing rain of burgers, Danny and his 2 buddies were snacking on the falling breakfast foods, perched on another power line. But all the way on the other end of the line, Rudy sat alone, munching his tiny piece of bacon. And just when he was about to eat the last of it, another ratbird came by and snached it right out of his paws. Rudy just sighed in despair.

As the days continued to pass, the ratbirds enjoyed the food just as much as the regular townfolk did. As more food rained down, it seemed as though even the ratbirds were squaking into the camara, asking for requests. But as the food increased, so did the teasing the other ratbirds did to Rudy. The bribed and tricked him with food so much, Rudy was almost starving, and he was just left with all the leftovers. And yet through all of this, Ann-Marie stayed loyal to Rudy.

As they hung out near what the humans called Mount Leftovers, Ann-Marie gave a bit more advice to Rudy. "You'll show them someday! Soon, YOU'LL be the one with all the food!" As they looked up to the clouds, the sky seemed to turn pink. Then, a rainbow appeared out of nowhere, comming down from up high. This gave Ann-Marie an idea.

"Wanna go for a flight?" she asked him. "Up in that rainbow?"

"With...with YOU?" Rudy stammered out. "I...I....YES!"

And so the 2 of them flew up into the clouds, weaving in, out and through what they discovered was a jelly bean rainbow, and feasting on the colorful sugar candies. As his beak glowed and shined, Rudy knew that Ann-Marie would stand beside him, no matter what happened.


	7. Chapter 6

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 6

The next morning, a fellow ratbird woke up with a loud rooster call, which scared Rudy, who was sitting nearby, almost to death. He fell off the wire he was sleeping on and onto the ground, which was soft and colored for some reason. As he looked around and rubbed his eyes, he discovered he was surrounded by colorful ice cream. Rudy's eyes lit right up, and so did his beak. As he started gobbling up the treat that was all around, Danny and the others caught up with him.

"Hey!" Danny shouted. "I thought we said that you couldn't have any of this food!"

"But there's enough for everyone!" Rudy said in defense.

"Enough for eveyone except YOU!"

Just then, Rudy was hit in the head by an ice cream snowball, thrown by one of the human kids. But then, Danny started throwing snowballs at Rudy too! The poor ratbird tried running off, but kept getting hit.

Then, some other ratbirds spotted some cherries topping off some of the ice cream scoops. They flew up and grabbed a handful of them, then started squezing the juice out of them, onto their beaks, so they mockingly looked like Rudy too.

"Look, look! I'm Rudy, the little freak!" they all mocked at him. "I'm never gonna be a REAL ratbird!"

"That's right." Danny said, just before flying off with the rest of the flock, "Only REAL ratbirds have yellow beaks!" And they all laughed as they flew off.

Rudy sighed. "They're right. My beak just isn't normal." he said quietly, just before flying off in the other direction. He wanted to be alone and hide for the rest of the day.


	8. Chapter 7

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 7

Rudy, with a heavy heart, slept through that entire ice cream snow day. He finaly woke up in the middle of the night, awakened by a drop of something landing on his beak. He looked up and saw yellow sticky stuff falling from the sky. He tried flying as he started heading back to the swamp, but the sticky liquid fell on his fur and wings, weighing him down. Unable to go any farther, he became so weak and tired that he fell from the sky, right into a flowery field close to his home, falling asleep again as soon as he hit the ground.

As the rays of the morning sun woke Rudy up the next day, he was greeted by a fantastic sight. A huge castle of Jell-o was standing before him! "Oh, if only Ann-Marie could see this..." He wondered aloud.

"Did someone say Ann-Marie?"

Rudy gasped, as his girlfriend flew in and sat down next to him.

"I really do think you're cute.." She whispered in his ear. "Hey, wanna have some fun today? That Jell-o thing looks tasty..."

"Of course!" Rudy gladly said back. "I'd love to do anything with you! As long as you don't make fun of my beak.."

"I won't ever make fun of your beak, Rudy, I think it's beautiful."

And with that, the two of them flew around the Jell-o castle, gobbling little bits and just flying around the field, having fun together. They even went into the forest near the swamp to hide in the bushes and play in the creek. They spent the whole day together, and through it all, Rudy's beak glowed as bright as his heart glowed for Ann-Marie. Finaly, they sat on the very top of the Jell-o castle, watching the sunset from a distance.

"Ann-Marie," Rudy began, "How can I ever thank you for such a wonderful day together?"

"Just by being who you are."

"Thanks, but..." Then Rudy had an idea. He flew down, plucked a flower from the field, and gave it to Ann-Marie. "Here, it's for you, it looks like all the others, but..."

"No, this is a unique flower Rudy, just like you. From now on, i'll wear this flower behind my ear, and every time I look at it, i'll think of you"

She put the flower in her fur, and Rudy's beak started to glow. It was his form of blushing. As Ann-Marie just giggled, she said, "You wanna go to the town and see if there's any more food before we go to sleep? This Jell-o is making me sick..."

"Sure!" Rudy aggreed, "I know the best spots for the best food."

And so they flew into to find some food, but all that was falling from the sky was steak, and ratbirds hate steak. But as they flew over a building that seemed to have no roof, Rudy overheard someone shouting down below. It was their master.

"When are you going to accept that this is who I am instead of trying to get me to work in some boring tackle shop?" They faintly heard from above. When this saying met Rudy's ears, he was reminded of the wish he made on the star that was falling up, so long ago. And he realized he wanted the same thing his master wanted, acceptance. "Come on." He said to Ann-Marie. "Let's try and find something else."

And so they flew back to the forest, but on their way there, they were almost hit by a giant hot dog as it fell onto the top of a power line. And since ratbirds love hot dogs, they flew down and began to have another little snack together. Rudy and Ann-Marie were just about to bite in when they were stopped by Danny and his 2 friends who were always at his sides.

"This is our hot dog!" Danny said to Rudy.

"But WE found it first!" Rudy countered.

"But my group gets all the hot dogs because we deserve the best! And you and your little "flower-in-the-hair" friend won't get any!"

Ann-Marie tried to defend her Red-Beaked friend. "Hey, this really is our hot dog. But look at all the hot dogs falling now. If you want this one, ok, we can find another one. I don't want this if you're teasing Rudy for it!"

As Rudy and his girlfriend flew off, Danny and his buddies kept snacking on their hot dog. Soon Rudy and Ann-Marie found another hot dog on a nearby roof. They looked out and saw their master, standing in the hot dog-filled street. And they just barely heard him say, "These are big hot dogs."


	9. Chapter 8

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 8

The next day was the reopening of ChewAndSwallow, and the ratbirds knew it. They wanted to have fun on this day by having a ratbird party on the far east side of town, while the humans cheered for their master in the town square. And every ratbird, even Rudy and Ann-Marie, was at the party. Even though Rudy was still made fun of, Ann-Marie kept defending him and saying that he should just ignore it all. "Your beak isn't worthless." she kept saying to him when he felt sad.

But up in the sky, the FLDSMDFR was going crazy, and was just about to release the first sign that it had gone wrong. But the ratbirds didn't know this, and neither did Rudy. As the ratbird party was underway and the chanting of "LOCKWOOD! LOCKWOOD!" could be heard in the distance, everything would go wrong in an instant. And it all started when Danny went a little too far with a joke towards Rudy....

"A beak that glows has no use in the world! It's just stupid!" Danny said at him.

"Yes it does! I must have this thing for a reason!" Rudy countered back.

"Ha ha ha ha, SHOW ME."

"You asked for it!"

And with that, Rudy put on his angry face, aimed it right at Danny, and he shined his beak like never before...POW! A beam of red light was emited from his beak, so powerful that Rudy's body was shot backwards, and his light angled up into the sky, where it hit a cloud and....

...caused it to TURN RED! Then little by little, the entire rest of the sky turned red! All the other ratbirds were terrified, and some of the flock fled quickly, flying so fast that they passed their master in the town square.

"Rudy's Beak! It's EVIL! DANGEROUS!" they said. As the remaining flock, including Rudy, looked up, they saw a huge twister form before their eyes. At this point, the entire rest of the flock fled, and even Ann-Marie was swept up in their haste. But Rudy stayed behind, standing in a frozen daze at what (he believed) he just caused. Suddenly, he was knocked out of it, and flew for his life, trying to escape it.

But the pull of the air in the tornado was too much for him, and he was sucked right in. Rudy tried and tried to flap his wings and fly out, and even tried using the glow of his beak to try and light his way. But since his beak glowed with a red light, it just made it harder to see in the red and yellow tinted insides of the twister. After trying for what seemed like forever, Rudy submited to the air and just let it carry him out to the open top of the twister, just as his master flew in. Rudy quickly flew out and took shelter in the yard of his master, sulking away as the tornado roared through the town. He just wanted it to all go away...

And it did. Just as quickly as it came, it went. Rudy surveyed the town, which was a total mess. But then when he flew back to his swamp, tears came to his eyes. The twister had ripped right through the forest, where it had faded out. But then Rudy saw all the other ratbirds. Staring at him with a look of disaproval.

"Look," He tried to say to them, "I didn't mean to do this, it was all just an..."

But before he could finish, they all just turned on him and flew off.

Rudy knew now. It was his beak that had caused all this destruction. He flew off to his master's lab, where he could be alone. But when he got there, Danny and his ever-present buddies were already sitting on the roof. Rudy tried to sit next to them, but they too just flew off and down into the yard below, where they sat on the edge of a trashcan in which their master was in.

Rudy looked down to them and felt more lonely than ever. It was like he could never show his face in the flock again. What about Ann-Marie? Would she still love him?

As he looked down again, Danny and the other 2 were shooed away by his master's father, but Rudy didn't care. He just curled up into a little ball of fluff on the roof, and cried himself to sleep. His beak was just too diferent. His beak was ruining his life. And now, it ruined everyone else's. And he still cried in his deep sleep, even as the lab beneath him seemed to be vibrating ever so gently, for his master was making another "great invention."


	10. Chapter 9

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 9

But while Rudy was all down and out, the rest of the ratbirds, including Danny and Ann-Marie, were flying towards the town square, looking for a place where they could live until ther real home was cleaned up. But as they reached sardine circle, they saw their master driving some big plane/car to the edge of the docks. As it's wings popped out and it started up, they all knew where he was going, up into the sky, but that sky looked scary, foggy and covered with extremely thick clouds. By instinct, the ratbirds knew that their master was in trouble, and they had to guide and help him somehow.

As their master's flying car took off, they all flew beside it, somehow guiding it in the air. Their master gave them a thumbs-up, but as they got farther up into the foggy sky, they spread apart, worried about what would come next. Nevertheless, they knew they had to protect their master, so they got back together and attempted to fly through the clouds and fog. But it was no use. The fog was just so thick, they couldn't see a thing, and all the ratbirds started crashing into each other and falling back to earth.

It was hopeless. Their master was doomed without his creations to protect him! If only they could find a way through the blanket of clouds and fog...

Even Ann-Marie was trying hard, but the fog made her keep crashing into everything. But then she crashed into the cannery building so hard it knocked her flower off her head and right into her paws. The flower that RUDY had given her...and she suddenly was reminded of him. She headed off to find her love.

All this time, Rudy was still on the roof, crying so many tears that there was a puddle where he could see his reflection. He took one look and smacked it, unable to withstand the uniqueness of his beak any longer. But then Ann-Marie flew in.

"Rudy, I need your help!" she said, panting.

"No one needs me." he sniffed. "It's all because of my beak, all it does is cause trouble!"

"But that's exactly why I came to see you! You know how much master means to us, right!"

Rudy nodded in aggreement.

Ann-Marie explained. "Well, he's in terrible danger now! He's flown up into the sky, and we tried to fly up with him, but the clouds and fog, it's just too hard to see and too thick for us to get through! We just need some sort of..."

"...powerful light?" Rudy finished her sentence. Then he realized how he could put himself to good use, and earn respect among this kind!

"MY BEAK! Did you see how powerful my beam of light was eariler? My light could cut through anything! I'LL lead the way for the flock, if they like it or not!"

The two began to fly off to alert the rest of Rudy's plan to save their master, for they didn't know it, but he would be in real danger. But as they took off, they heard a deep rumbling sound. They looked behind them to find that the food dam had broken, and its contents were heading straight for them! They flew as fast as they could, dodging the food items to stay ahead of the avalanche. The two reached the rest of the flock, just as the giant food spilled into the ocean.


	11. Chapter 10

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Chapter 10

As Rudy and Ann-Marie reached the struggling flock, they gathered them together and told them the plan. Danny was the first to object.

"Him? Lead US!?"

"But my beak's light is the only thing that can cut through that storm!" Rudy said, showing how his bright light could guide them. "And you love master, don't you? He's the one who created us! If he goes away, our species number's will get even lower! We HAVE to save him!"

As all the ratbirds aggreed with him, even Danny submitted to Rudy's statement. I mean, he really did love his master.

And so, the flock took off, with Rudy and Ann-Marie leading the flock as one through the pea-soup fog and thick dark purple clouds. Rudy's beak was lit up like never before, it's bright red light cutting through the fog's darkness like a knife. With his uniqueness all aglow and his true love Ann-Marie by his side, the mob of ratbirds was able to stay together and fight through the clouds that were no match for Rudy's beak. Finaly, after what seemed like a forever flight (which was made quicker by Rudy's light), Rudy and the rest broke through the last cloud, and into view came a giant meat-a-roid. And there was the flying car, hovering around , as what looked like a huge brown thing fell on it. The ratbirds were confused, but Rudy just led them across the clearing towards the car-plane.

But it seemed as though it was flying out of the clouds, as it zipped right past them. And before they could say anything, there was a deafining BOOM, as the meat-a-roid exploded before their eyes, and even more dark clouds rushed past them. Still shining his beak, Rudy was able to barely see their master, falling through space as the clouds cleared. With a shout of "MASTER!", Rudy took off like a jet right towards him, the flock following close behind. Even though it was now perfectly sunny and bright, Rudy still lit his beak like a beacon, pointing right at his master. And then, Rudy grabbed right on to his master's hair, and encouraged the others to do the same.

"Grab onto him! Take him to the ground! We CAN save him!"

As Rudy and Ann-Marie grabbed onto his hair, the other ratbirds held onto him as well, forming a mass around their master's body. But then, Rudy's eyes started to close, his breathing got deep, and his beak's light stopped shining. Then he let go and started falling to earth. Ann-Marie noticed just in time, and she let go as well as the other ratbirds continued to take their master safely to the ground.

Ann-Marie sped through the air, catching her love in her paws right before they hit the ground, hidden from the human crowd by some giant food. It turned out that Rudy had used up so much of his body's energy to light his beak, it weakened the rest of his body's systems, and he had fainted.

"Come on Rudy..." Ann-Marie whispered, "Wake up...."

His eyes gently opened. "Ann-Marie?" He said in a low voice.

"Rudy!" She said in delight, hugging him. "I'm so proud of you!"

Just then, all the other ratbirds arrived, after getting their master safely to the ground. They all cheered for Rudy, who had used his beak to guide the flock and save his master just in time. Truly, HE was the one who had saved their master, who was the one who had created them in the first place. Rudy was a true hero now, just by using his own unique beak.

Ann-Marie nuzzled her head under Rudy's, a "ratbird kiss." As Rudy nuzzled back, he gently whispered, "I just have to be me."

The crowd of ratbirds became so happy for Rudy that five of them, including Danny and his buddies, flew up and out, over Rudy and Ann-Marie, over the human crowd with their master and his girlfriend, took a swerve and flew up and out, then flew like fireworks in the sky.

_You know Flint Lockwood, who made a food-rain creation,_

_And stopped it's food storm that threatened the nations,_

_But do all you know,_

_ChewAndSwallow's smallest hero?_

_Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird, had a very shiny beak,_

_Glowed with the light of daytime, but they just called him a freak._

_And all the other ratbirds, they just filled his heart with pain,_

_'Cuz they never let Rudy, have any of the food rain._

_But that pea-soup foggy day, Rudy was his best,_

_Shining his beak bright he could, save his master Flint Lockwood._

_The how everyone loved him, as they squaked it out with glee,_

_Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird, said "I just have to be me!"_

THE END

(But this is NOT the last chapter!)

(Song lyrics based upon "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," Reworked lyrics copyright to Cody The Maverick)


	12. Epilogue

Rudy The Red-Beaked RatBird

Epilogue

A few weeks later, the food was starting to get cleaned up, and the ratbirds' swamp became normal again. They moved back in, and their master kept feeding them every Tuesday morning like before. Only this time he didn't have sardines...

As he visited the forest on the Tuesday after the food storm, he brought a big pile of leftover food for them to snack on.

"Guys," Their master, Flint Lockwood, began, "I'd like to thank you for saving me on Saturday. If it wasn't for you, I might have been dead."

"CAW CAW CAW" All the ratbirds said, then they all backed away and stepped back, revealing Rudy, standing before his master.

"Rudy?" Flint was surprised. "YOU'RE the one who saved me?"

"CAAAAA CAAAAA!"

"You mean, you're the one who guided the flock? Through the fog? Just in time to save me?"

Rudy nodded, as his beak lit up its bright red.

"Oh Rudy!" Flint shouted as he hugged him tight, "I owe my life to your beak! I knew you were going to be something special someday!"

All the ratbirds, including Ann-Marie and Danny, cheered for their master and Rudy. They had both proved that they were put on this planet for a reason. Although they didn't know much about their master's story, they knew about Rudy's no doubt.

And as Rudy warmed himself in his master's embrace, the master that he had saved, his one-of-a-kind beak sparkled and glowed in the sun, his blue eyes filled with tears of joy and happiness, and his heart beated faster.

_Show me the light, someone to lead and guide me._

_Show me the light, a love to stand beside me._

_Show me the light, when I fear the dark._

_A ray of sunshine, a rainbow's arc._

_Show me the light..._

**THE END**

(Lyrics of "Show me the Light" copyright to GoodTimes Entertainment)


End file.
